Southeast Conference honors lady cagers

Two Burros have won Southeast Conference honors for basketball excellence.

Lanesboro's Olivia Haug has been named to the All-SEC second team. This season, the junior center scored 14.6 points per contest in conference matches, grabbed 15.1 rebounds, lifted 2.1 steals, and canned 42 percent of her field goal attempts.

Conference honors are based on SEC contests only, so statistics typically do not include all matches. The Burros finished 5-12 in conference games.

Ann Rysavy of Lyle/Pacelli was named SEC Player of the Year. This year marks the fourth All-SEC appearance for the standout senior guard. Teammate Sarah Holtz, a sophomore forward, was also named to the first team. It was her second appearance on the All-SEC list. Holtz also earned honorable mention honors in 2012. No individual conference stats were made available for L/P.

Spring Grove senior Nicki Ellingson also appeared on the All-SEC first team. It was the third appearance for the talented 5-9 forward, who won honorable mention in 2012 and All-SEC in 2013. She averaged 11.3 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 2.4 steals per conference match. Ellingson was accurate from the field, hitting 44 percent on the season.

Mabel-Canton's Lydia Geving earned honorable mention in 2012, All-Conference in 2013, and now joins the All-SEC first team list for 2014. No conference-only stats for her were available at press time, but the 5-8 senior guard averaged 14.9 points per game overall, while grabbing 5.9 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 3.1 steals. Geving shot 32 percent from beyond the arc, 42 percent overall from the field.

Rio Landers of Grand Meadow is the only center to appear on the first team. She checked in at 6-1 during this, her sophomore year. Landers averaged 15.9 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks per contest. She hit 32 percent of her trey tries, 42 percent overall.

Hope Lutheran's Dakota Ellinghuysen completed her high school career with a fourth All-SEC appearance. The 5-10 senior forward had 15.1 points per game, 12.7 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 5.3 steals, and 2.6 blocks. An excellent free throw shooter, she hit 75 percent from the foul line, 28 percent from beyond the arc, and 41 percent overall from the field.

The second team also includes six players. It includes senior guard Becca Bunne of LeRoy-Ostrander, who made her third appearance on the All-SEC squad. Bunne had 14.5 points, 11.0 rebound, 6.5 assists, 5.0 steals per game. Her career stats include 1,167 points and 1,007 rebounds.

Spring Grove junior Samantha Bratland also appeared on the squad team. At 5-10, she played forward for the Lions. Bratland averaged 14.6 points per game, 8.4 rebounds, and 3.1 steals per outing. She hit 45 percent overall from the field, including 40 percent from beyond the three-point arc. Bratland won honorable mention last year.

Courtney Walter of Lyle/Pacelli makes yet another All-SEC appearance. She also earned honorable mention in 2011, and All-SEC in 2012 and 2013.

Abbey Loken of Houston recorded her third All-Conference appearance. The senior center was named to the second team after scoring 15.5 points per game, grabbing 11.1 rebounds, and hitting 43 percent from the field.

Mabel-Canton's Sara Lind earned honorable mention in 2013, and second team All-Conference this year. She played forward, averaging 10.5 points, 7.7 rebounds per game (all contests). Lind hit 41 percent from the field.

This year's honorable mention list includes a second appearance by Hope Lutheran's Jenna O'Laughlin, a senior guard. Glenville-Emmons senior guard Bre Lundmark made the list, as did Grand Meadow's Rachel Oehlke, a junior guard. Houston sophomore forward Kelly Jerviss was honored, as was L/P eighth-grade guard Brooke Walter. M-C senior guard Carly McCabe represented her school, as did senior guard Mara Wilson of Schaeffer Academy. LeRoy-Ostrander's Sam Siskow, a sophomore forward, made the list as well. Spring Grove's Lauren Arneson, a junior guard, rounds out the field for 2014.